Consumer Co-operatives

Abstract

A co-operative may be briefly defined as an enterprise organized, owned, and controlled by the people who use its services. Its affairs are conducted in accordance with the following democratic principles, which were established more than a hundred years ago by the twenty-eight weavers who organized the first modern cooperative in Rochdale, England, on December 21, 1844:

• 1. Open Membership: All persons genuinely interested in co-operative endeavor can join, regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, or political affiliation.

• 2. Democratic Control: Each investor has only one vote, regardless of the size of his investment.

• 3. Patronage Dividends: The major portion of the profits are returned to members in proportion to their purchases, rather than on the basis of their investments.

The present chapter makes liberal use of a research memorandum on Negromanaged consumer co-operatives prepared for this study by H. Naylor Fitzhugh, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce and Finance, Howard University.